This Is Fascism? Bannon Vows Trump Will “Deconstruct The Administrative State”

Even before Donald Trump was elected, people were referring to him as a fascist, an authoritarian, a dictator in waiting. Mind you, this wasn’t just coming from liberals and the liberal media: it also emanated from some right leaning folks, such as Glenn Beck. Since Trump was elected, the screeching has become stronger from the left about the utter doom of a coming Nazi nation. So, how does that square with this?

The reclusive mastermind behind President Trump’s nationalist ideology and combative tactics made his public debut Thursday, delivering a fiery rebuke of the media and declaring that the new administration is in an unending battle for “deconstruction of the administrative state.”

Stephen K. Bannon, the White House chief strategist and intellectual force behind Trump’s agenda, used his first speaking appearance since Trump took office to vow that the president would honor all of the hard-line pledges of his campaign. (snip)

“If you think they’re going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken,” Bannon said in reference to the media and opposition forces. “Every day, it is going to be a fight.”

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He continued, “And that is what I’m proudest about Donald Trump. All the opportunities he had to waver off this, all the people who have come to him and said, ‘Oh, you’ve got to moderate’ — every day in the Oval Office, he tells Reince and I, ‘I committed this to the American people, I promised this when I ran, and I’m going to deliver on this.’ ”

One thing you can’t say about Trump is that he won’t bother attempting to keep his campaign promises. He may not succeed on some issues, but he will try. For many of us Trump fence sitters during the campaign, it was a concern that Trump was making campaign promises that he would abandon and do the opposite, based on him being a long term NYC liberal. So far, he’s been trying to do what he promised.

Bannon framed much of Trump’s agenda with the phrase, “deconstruction of the administrative state,” meaning the system of taxes, regulations and trade pacts that the president says have stymied economic growth and infringed upon U.S. sovereignty. Bannon says that the post-World War II political and economic consensus is failing and should be replaced with a system that empowers ordinary people over coastal elites and international institutions.

If memory serves, people with an authoritarian bend would be looking to increase the power of the central government, would they not? When Bannon and Trump talk about nationalism, they aren’t thinking about the old version, but a new one, where America and Americans come first. It’s not about isolationism, fascism, or anything along the lines of Big Government. It’s about reducing the stranglehold the federal government has over citizens as much as possible.